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This game recap is presented by MAA Corporate Partner Econo Lodge

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SILVER CITY, N.M. – A 7-0 run for the Western State Colorado University men's basketball team midway through the second half put the Mountaineers on top for good as they came away with a 66-58 road win Friday night over Western New Mexico.
 
Devin Kastrup (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) led four Mountaineers in double figures with 16 points, shooting 5-of-11 from the floor. Mason Biddle (Sr., Riverside, Calif.) added 13 points and a team-high eight assists and two steals. Dominique Wright (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) also reached double figures with 12 points while Alex Eddy (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) chipped in 11 points and a team-best seven boards.
 
Terrez Scott and Steven Loucks led the Mustangs with 20 points apiece.
 
After the Mustangs (2-20, 2-16 RMAC) jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first three and a half minutes of the game, Western knocked down two treys to begin a 10-3 run and take a 10-9 advantage with 12:28 to play in the first half.
 
"We got down 6-0 early but kept battling," said head men's basketball coach Bradd Schafer. "I thought we did a good job of shooting the basketball but I thought we also did a good job of attacking in the second half. We made 17 trips to the free throw in the second half after not making any in the first."
 
WNMU grabbed a 20-17 lead after two free throws from Loucks with six minutes to play, but Wright sparked an 8-2 Western (4-18, 3-15 RMAC) run, going up 25-22 following a triple from Biddle with 3:19 remaining.
 
WNMU knocked down five three-pointers in the first eight minutes of the second half to go on top, but the Mountaineers also added a few baskets from long range to hang with the Mustangs, trailing 42-39 with 12 minutes to play.
 
Kastrup scored five-straight points in a 7-0 Western run that helped put the Mountaineers in the lead the remainder of the game.
 
WNMU pulled within a basket after two free throws from Tyler Shea with six minutes to play, but the Mountaineers extended their advantage to 56-48 after a Biddle layup with less than four minutes remaining.
 
The Mustangs made one last push with Scott scoring five-straight points to bring WNMU within 58-55 with 1:09 to play. The Mustangs had an opportunity to even it up one possession later but a turnover cost WNMU as Western went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line in the final 33 seconds to seal the victory.
 
The Mountaineers shot 44.9 percent (22-of-49) from the field while holding the Mustangs to 35.6 percent (21-of-59) shooting. Western also had a strong outing from the line and from three, hitting 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the charity stripe and 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from behind the arc.
 
"I would say tonight from start to finish was the best we've played as a team through the course of this year," Schafer said. "We did the things down the stretch to come away with the win."
 
Western heads to New Mexico Highlands for its final road game of the season tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. in Las Vegas.